The Tamil Nadu health department on Saturday issued an order which stated that doctors in government service will be eligible for incentives of up to 30 per cent over and above their NEET score for postgraduate admissions.

The order was issued based on the recommendations made by a seven-member committee, the Times of India reported. The order categorised service doctors into four classes and allocated an incentive to them according to their place of work.

According to the new order, doctors who are working in hilly areas are eligible to get 10 per cent grace marks above their NEET score and those working in difficult areas in the plains will get 9 per cent. Those working in remote areas are eligible for an incentive of 8 per cent and those working in rural areas are eligible for 5 per cent of marks above their NEET-PG score.

The notification caused some confusion among the students regarding the maximum incentive a student can be granted. A clarification was then issued, stating that irrespective of the number of years of service a PG aspirant has given, the maximum marks he or she can be granted as an incentive cannot exceed 30 per cent.

The students also put forward another problem in relation to the new rule – while PG aspirants serving in urban centres are not eligible for incentives, those working as health officers in the state public health department can receive 10 per cent grace mark over their NEET score. However, the health officers are eligible to pick only community medicine as their PG speciality and it is compulsory for them to complete their PG course in five years, the Public Health Department clarified.

In the recently released NEET-PG results, Tamil Nadu found the highest number of candidates qualifying the exams, thereby becoming eligible for a seat in government medical colleges. 14 per cent (11,121 students) of the total number of candidates who cleared NEET-PG exams were from Tamil Nadu.